Logan Couture is the frontrunner to be Sharks captain, but questions remain surrounding team

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SAN JOSE, CA – APRIL 18: San Jose Sharks’ Logan Couture (39) celebrates his goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in the first period of Game 5 of an NHL first round playoff series at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, April 18, 2019. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

These are the dog days of summer, a time when Bay Area hockey aficionados can do nothing more than count down the days — 29 more till the first game of the exhibition season. To pass the time, you might check out bottom-six forward Marcus Sorenson doing leg lunges during a workout on his social media or resort to watching a game of baseball or spending time with your children.

Or we could reflect on the Joe Pavelski Era to determine whether the captain’s departure will be a foundation-shattering change (it won’t), or merely the next step in Doug Wilson’s “Reset and Refresh” philosophy.

While in the lineup regularly since the 2007-08 season, Pavelski didn’t become captain until the eve of the 2015 opener. This occurred under less-than-ideal circumstances; Joe Thornton had been stripped of the captaincy after the historic playoff collapse against Los Angeles. Although this oddly mirrored Thornton’s own ascent to the Sharks captaincy after Patrick Marleau had been held responsible for multiple playoff flameouts, the transition was fairly seamless.

After missing the playoffs entirely in the 2015-2016 season, Pavelski’s first with the C, the Sharks rebounded to the most successful year in their history, taking Pittsburgh to six games in the Stanley Cup Final. Under Pavelski, the Sharks exorcised their many playoff demons, reached the Final, and were annual contenders for the Cup.

Pavelski will be a Dallas Star when the Sharks open their 29th season in September. A victim of the salary cap and his own goal-scoring success, Pavelski’s market value (both term and dollars) was nowhere near what Wilson was willing to pay for a 35-year old forward. Too many dollars were committed to Erik Karlsson, the generational defenseman (and the Shark who most closely resembles a member of the Three Musketeers). Evander Kane, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Logan Couture also had been awarded mega-deals of their own, and young, restricted free such as 30-goal scorer Timo Meier was next in line.
Joe Pavelski (Randy Vazquez/Bay Area News Group)

A quick aside: Many embittered fans took to social media to decry Pavelski’s decision to accept the Dallas Stars’ offer — far superior to the Sharks — and have unfairly lambasted the former captain. A loyal Shark for over a decade, Pavelski has earned the dollars his performance and free agency provides. Former coach Todd McClellan may have described the NHL best, referring to the collective teams as somewhat of a “performance troupe”, even though the performance involves direct competition. Pavelski, like Marleau, is a Shark For Life, and the Bay Area sports market should be sophisticated enough to wish him well.

Wilson’s tough decision not to offer more term and dollars to Marleau a few years back is widely seen now as a wise one. I suspect his decision on Pavelski will be seen the same way in a few years. The Sharks GM has enough trouble coming down the contract pipeline. As currently constructed, the Sharks have the makings of a Red Wings-esque fall, once many of the team’s highly-paid stars simultaneously hit the back-nine of their career.

I don’t think I am going out on a terribly brittle limb to say that within a week or two of that Sept.17 exhibition opener, if not sooner, we will be opening the era of Capt. Logan Couture. On a roster with as many leaders as San Jose, there are a number of darkhorse candidates for the captaincy. But Couture is the obvious favorite. He has the salty personality when needed, and he has the game to back it up.

This will be yet another Cup-or-Bust season for San Jose, and there might be no greater playoff performer in the NHL than Couture. Considering he is always matched up defensively against other teams’ top lines (the McDavids, the Crosbys), this is doubly impressive.

The team is currently still in flux, however. Even assuming the 40-year old Wonder Twins Marleau and Thornton sign (and it sounds like Marleau may be a longshot now), the team is a bit short at the wing position. While there are a number of intriguing options in the Barracuda pipeline, I have to think Wilson will keep an eye out for opportunities to upgrade on the wing. There are definitely openings and extended minutes for the taking, and it would strengthen Wilson’s hand at the trade deadline if he were able to fill all his positions in-house.
Kevin Labanc (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Some marveled at Wilson’s ability to sign Kevin Labanc to a 1-year, $1 million contract, but the GM has earned that trust from players by dealing honestly and forthrightly with their predecessors. Labanc will certainly earn a heftier chunk of change next season if he puts up big numbers while continuing to improve in the neutral and defensive zones. He’ll for sure get his chance this season.

Perhaps the most important (and yet underplayed) issue for the Sharks is goaltending. The tandem of Martin Jones and Aaron Dell was borderline embarrassing all regular season. Jones eventually got his act together mid-series against the Las Vegas Knights after a shaky first few games, but the leash on both netminders has to be short. If options (or a Barracuda challenger in training camp) become available, don’t be shocked if there is some change in net, one way or the other, over the season.

Wilson has consistently managed to use his “reset/refresh” philosophy to maintain the Sharks’ status as perennial contenders even though San Jose’s window was declared closed by many after the 2015 season. Wilson has shown a willingness to pay top dollar for “game-changing” talent when a player is in his prime, but he also has been willing to cut the cord when the risk-reward ratio is too high.